Eins Zwei Drei
by North Freezing
Summary: Nerv got a little trouble on their hands after the battle with Ramiel.
1. Every story needs a beginning

**Disclaimer**: Instead of doing a long typical disclaimer, I'll be brief. Anything that has a copyright protection belongs to their respective owners.

_**Notes: **This is my first attempt at Eva fan-fiction, but who cares about that._

_P.S: I suck at writing._

_Eins Zwei Drei_

_By North Freezing_

Chapter 1:

xxxx

It was a warm and cloudless night. The moon was up and the stars held all who gazed upon them spellbound, a perfect evening to do a little stargazing with love ones. Sakes or watermelons would make the scene even better. Oh, let's not forgot about the lovely fireworks, too.

Of course, that only applied to citizens lived outside of Tokyo Three Fortress City because over here, fireworks could kill you.

" High energy buildup detected inside the target again!" Shouted Maya.

" No!" Misato cried. _Damn it! The recharge rate of the angel's weapon! How did I forget to test that! _She mentally berated herself. The operation had gone down to hell when the 5th angel: Ramiel decided the eva, which was positioned just outside of its kill-zone, to be a potential threat and attacked simultaneously. The first shot misfired because of that.

Shinji made a surprised yelp when another deadly beam flew toward him. By instinct he closed his eyes and braced for the inevitable pain and maybe even death that would follow. But a few seconds later he opened them again when he realized that his heart was still beating. _How?_ He peered around the targeting monitor for the positron cannon and quickly found his answer. " Ayanami!" Unit-00 was kneeling before his eyes, blocking the shot intended for him with the makeshift shield that was created by super electro-magnetically coated the bottom of a hand-me-down SSTO.

Which was melting away like butter.

"It won't be able to hold for long!" Ritsuko watched helplessly as said shield slowly turned into a giant alloy flat-cake around Unit-00's foot.

Misato snapped her attention back to Makoto with a worried expression on her face. "How much longer for the cannon?"

" Ten more seconds!"

Shinji pull his eyes back to the display screen and waited for the second shot of the positron cannon to be charged. _Faster!_ He pleaded. Each second felt like a minute in his mind as the Nerv technician continued the countdown. The trucks that carried their umbilical cable had been knocked off balanced by the shockwave from the first shot, and it just happened to damage the power generators, so he and Rei didn't have much time left. "Shield reaching critical status!" Someone else exclaimed, Shinji couldn't remembered exactly who though, as he already willed the eva into action upon hearing a loud 'Fizz' sound which had the uncanny resemblance to scorching magma when it came in contact with cool water.

"Shinji-kun!"

xxxx

Click, Click.

The annoying sound from a pair of high heels echoed throughout the empty corridor of Geo-front. It finally stopped as the owner of said shoes found her intended target. Doctor Akagi wasn't surprised at the sight before her eyes. Misato was sitting on the far end of a bench near a vending machine with a blank look on her face, bags under her eyes, a half empty can of coffee in her hand and about a dozen empty ones laid around her feet as well. The artificial sunlight, which filled the hallway with warmth through the windows, seemed to mock the mood of the person sitting down.

" You know, sitting here looking like a zombie is not going to help with anything. Whatever happened wasn't your fault. The angel has been defeated after all."

" Ritsuko, don't try to make me feel better." Misato replied with a dejected tone then let out a sigh, "I won't be surprised if the commander decides to fire me, and I mean both figuratively and literally." A moment of silence passed between them. "And I can't blame him for either choices." Misato patted the seat beside her, gestured her old friend to sit down.

" Rei is fine. The heat had caused her body temperature to act a bit irregular, but its back to normal now. She'll just have to stay for observation for another day." Ritsuko took her seat. " Don't worry, even if he's a bastard, commander has enough sense to not do something that stupid." _I think._ She mentally added.

Trying to change the topic, she flipped through a couple pages of notes on her clipboard. " What Shinji has done was incredible. The data collected for this mission will have me working overtime this entire week."

"Don't you think you have your priorities backward? Shinji's still trapped inside the eva!" A bewildered and angry captain turned to face her friend. " We don't know how to get him out of that entry plug, or whether he's dead or alive!"

Dr. Akagi Ritsuko seemed a bit irritated at the major's comment, as if she already been through similar argument beforehand. " Be reasonable, you saw the situation yourself. I can't do anything about it. You know the only way to cancel an AT field is with another AT field of equal or greater strength, and one with magnitude this powerful had never been witnessed before, let alone when there are two of them."

After venting off a bit of steam, she continued. " Don't worry about Shinji, he appears to be alive. We did several scans to see if the pilot is all right, and from what we picked up his heartbeat appears to be normal. Albeit a little slower, as if he's asleep."

xxxx

" The committee isn't going to like this."

Gendo didn't reply. The gears in his head were working overtime trying to develop a solution to deal with this unexpected predicament, but so far he came up with nothing. Therefore he was doing his favorite hands-cover-half-of-your-face-and-act-like-you-eat-baby-for-breakfast pose, (_Wow, that was long_) also known as Gendo position (tm), as a display to show that he was in control of everything.

He reread the report that Akagi sent in an hour ago. It contained all records on the battle of the 5th angel and the aftermath. _I guess reading it over again wouldn't hurt, the old men's spies probably got the exact same document back to them already_. And since they haven't hit the panic button to summon him, his ass should be okay for now.

When the angel's assault had almost breached the shield that Rei was holding, Unit-01 stood up unexpectedly. The beam, which already had a lock-on on Unit-01's head, traveled upward as well, causing the shot to miss the crouching Unit-00. A powerful AT field of immense strength then appeared in front of Unit-01's face and ricocheted the deadly ray upward into the sea of stars above, just a few centimeters away from eva's face. The surprised look on all witness's face went up another notch when a second AT field of equal power materialized and reflected the beam back toward its gunner. The shaft of light formed a delta pattern in the night sky before it destroyed Ramiel, whose AT field apparently wasn't able to withstand it's own attack. All of this happened within five seconds. The eva ceased functioning afterward.

_If it only were just another berserk pilot/machine incident_… Gendo reflected. _It would be much easier to deal with_.

Nerv retrieved the walking death machines back to their respective cages in the Geo-front afterward. However, after power cables were inserted in order to get the pilots out, the spawn of hell called Unit-01 let out a growl. All active personnel nearby scrambled away from the hanger that contained Unit-01 in fear. The rescue teams that were preparing to recover the Third Child, whose communication apparently went offline during the phenomenon, retreated as well. Unit-00 appeared to have no problems. Its pilot was now under observation after minor medical treatment.

The emergency Bakelite was then released into the cage of Unit-01 as a safety measure in case of the unit going berserk inside the base; unexpectedly the same AT field that stopped the 5th angel suddenly materialized and held the flooding at bay. Nerv tried various tactics to breach the impregnable barrier yet the purple beast held everything from getting within its five-meter radius. The situation had become a stalemate between the giant robot and the people that created it, which already lasted about a day and a half. The good thing was that the eva had done nothing more and was apparently satisfied with just being left along, something many people were welling to comply, even if it meant losing their jobs.

The problem still remain however, as the Third Child was still inside. By all account, he couldn't be in control because of the lack of power. The life-support had already been switched on twenty-four hours ago when they cut the power source as an attempt to shut down the AT field. The attempt failed, and power was restored back to the unit to keep the pilot alive. Upon further analysis, two AT fields were detected, which meant that even if Rei somehow managed to nullify the first one, there's a second one to worry about. Furthermore, such action might trigger whatever self defense mechanism the eva had developed. IE. Berserk. Which led them back to square one. As such they could only wait until the pilot regain consciousness to see if he could regain control again, which hopefully wouldn't take too long.

Gendo rubbed his temple, and tuned back to reality in search of something less troublesome.

"I don't want to think what they'll do to us, probably have your head on a pike outside of Nerv and mine beside it. Anyway do you need some KY? Doctor Oshiri of the medical department said it's good at relieving stress or something."

" Fuyutsuki…"

" Yes Ikari?"

" Shut up."

" Fine."

Satisfied that he made someone else miserable, the supreme commander decided to take a washroom break, unfortunately the emergency light blinked on his desk, meaning a hologram meeting with Seele would be held in five minutes. _At least that's the worst thing today. Maybe I could use some of those KY…_

xxxx

"Hey guys! What is this thing doing over here?" Inquired Shigeru, he took a piece of paper that was sitting on top of the printer.

Curious by the comment, His fellow bridge mates scooted around him to see what was so important about it. All of them had been working overtime already and were grateful for the distraction. Their eyes grew wider as they read the content.

" Someone should deliver this to the commander." Makoto said. His voice trembled.

" Why, does that mean you are volunteering?" Shigeru snorted. Everyone knew how dangerous the commander was. The rumor had been that the last person who entered the commander office unannounced got send to the North Pole base. And they didn't have a base over at North Pole.

" Umm, shouldn't sempai deliver this to the commander? Why don't we just wait until she came back and give it to her?" Maya asked. " It's the calculation from the magi after all." The guys readily approved of such action.

They remained quiet for a moment." Coffee anyone?" said Shigeru. Makoto and Maya agreed, trying to forget the disturbing piece of information they just read.

Back at the commander's office, if anyone happened to be close by, they could hear the distress cry of Gendo Ikari as he heard the news first-handed from his superiors.

" TWO YEARS!"

xxxx

End chapter 1

TBC

Author notes: Well, that's the first chapter. Wish I had an editor or something. I tried to make things appear plausible, so if there's something that seemed out of place please excuse me. I guess this chapter is more of a prologue. Hopefully I could come up with more for the next chapter.

The next chapter will take place 2 years later, so some OOC is bound to happen. Don't worry though; Shinji isn't going to start chewing bubblegum and ready to kickass with an Uzi while wearing shades (no promise though…). I'm not even sure if I'll have him back that fast. As for Rei, she'll remain pretty much the same as I envisioned her. I don't know if it'll be a good thing or not, but I'm sure I'll enjoy writing about it. : Evil grin:

Oh yeah, if you don't like cross over you could stop reading now.

PS. I didn't create the term Gendo position (TM), another author came up with the term but I can't remember who…

Glossary:

Eins, Zwei, Drei: one, two, three in German, I decided on German because the English sounds boring.

SSTO (Single Stage to Orbit): a vehicle capable of achieving orbit without the use of staging: the entire vehicle reaches orbit.

Doctor Oshiri: Oshiri meant ass in Japanese. I thought it'd fit.

By the way, I hate the formatting of this site.


	2. Two years? Or not

**Disclaimer**: Instead of doing a long typical disclaimer, I'll be brief. Anything that has a copyright protection belongs to their respective owners.

_**Notes: **Again, I suck._

_Eins Zwei Drei_

_By North Freezing_

Chapter 2:

xxxx

" I can't run away…I can't run away…" In front of him was the 3rd angel, the abomination that brought everything to shambles ever since its arrival, his sworn enemy.

The specially designed 8-shape magazine quickly accelerated the uranium rounds into a magnetized state, which was then fired off at high velocity out the barrel of the pallet rifle. It was an automatic rail-gun so to speak. A weapon that had been in service for two years and still remained as one of the top state-of-the-art weaponries, a powerful tool of destruction if you happened to be about 50 meters tall.

" Missed." The mechanical voice from the computer replied. _Damn_. The pilot grimaced. _It sure looked easy back then._ A beep and the flashing warning sign on his HUD told him the angel already changed position again. _I won't miss this time!_

Fired, missed.

" Screw this! Can't you guys install a mouse and keyboard on this thing? There's no way I'll be able to hit anything using a joystick. This got to be stupidest way to play FPS!"

" Watch your language young man." A disgruntled Doctor Akagi said as she monitored the simulation. " You're not suppose to treat it like a video game. The eva moved by your thought, so hand-eye coordination is the key. The switch is only there to help you visualize yourself hold the gun, so stop trying to jerk the handle off! That's why you're missing a lot." She typed down a few more commands on the console, " At least your close quarter combat improved a bit. Jerking with your knife lately?" A few giggles erupted among the female technicians upon hearing the doctor's remark.

" Hey! I resent that!"

" Well, I guess that's it for today. You can get out and take a shower now. Don't worry about the little mess you made in the 'entry plug'. We'll take care of it."_ Making fun of my creation huh_. Ritsuko smirked as another wave of giggles followed after her comment.

xxxx

Misato blinked when the door to the test chamber opened and a red-faced Touji ran passed her. _Wonder what happened_. Deemed it as probably not important she continued her way into room. " So, how's the test?" Misato asked as she got behind Ritsuko and placed her head over the scientist's shoulder, who was just finishing uploading the test result into the magi databank.

These past three weeks had be a lot busier than usual ever since the Fourth Child had been found, who was none other than one of Shinji's friend, Touji Suzuhara. The boy sort of outgrew her charm when he got into high school. It was still fun to tease him once in a while about his relationship with Hikari though. From what she heard, people already treated them as an item, but it was never made official considered neither confessed yet.

After double-checking the data to make sure all three magi system had the correct info for cross evaluations, Ritsuko acknowledged Misato's presence. " Touji's synchro-rate with Unit-03 has increased enough to activate the eva. I'd suggest against any long-range weapons for him in the near future though. On the side note, he still needs puking bags, maybe we should just install a compartment for it…"

" I don't think we're going to worry about an angel attack anytime soon." Misato murmured.

It had been about two and a half years since the incident with Ramiel, but there were no signs of angels. Spring break was just over for students and new school year was about to start. Touji had informed them that they took his precious vacation time away from him every chance he got.

Shinji did not awake from his coma-like state in two years as magi had predicted. The fact that he had been sleeping all these times without require eating, bodily functions or anything else was a mystery itself. During his absence, Nerv and the world in general had undergone some drastic changes.

In Nerv's case, everyone had panicked after the news that the Third Child got trapped in a semi-awakened eva got around. People were freaked by the fact that the only pilot and machine that had defeated the past angels was unofficially out of action and Unit-00 needed an overhaul that would take approximately two weeks. So another angel attack would've been the end of humanity. Countries that had evas refused to give them up in order to pacify their citizens despite the fact that the angel only attack Japan, however with enough political pressure they did yield, stating that if another angel attack was to occur the eva would be sent, but only then. The world was on a wary lookout for the messenger of doom ever since.

The effort seemed to be a pointless one however, as the angel seemly vanished out of existence even after Unit-00 finished its repair. A year later, the tension had lessened. Nerv started to lose its political dominance in the world, and a cutback was decreed. Many branches had to be disbanded because the required funds for building and maintaining new evas were deemed as unnecessary, which left about five included the main base. In the following year two more got shut down, so only three remained operational, one in Japan, one in Germany and one in America. The most recent one that got shutdown was the second America branch, right after they delivered Unit-03.

The cutback of Nerv's budget meant that the taxpayers' money could be spent elsewhere, and many countries planned to do so. The commander however, was able to influence a small portion of that money supply for Nerv some how. Things like new weapons and more armament buildings were developed. Furthermore, Tokyo 3 had gone through a makeover that fitted the image as the new capital. Thanked to mass brainwashing and propaganda by media, the city's population had also increased by 1/3 of its original size. Many people started to believe the angel threat had disappeared. And even if they were to attack again, the new and improved Tokyo 3 would be the safest place to be. The citadel of mankind as some would say.

" What about Rei?" Misato broke out of her reminiscence. " She finished her test yesterday, so I'm guessing she achieved your expectation?"

While Ritsuko brought up Rei's data for her Misato turned her attention to the brown-hair assistant of Dr. Akagi. " Or should I ask her guardian?"

xxxx

" Ah-chu!"

Rei raised her hand and gently rubbed her nose. She blinked twice and wondered if she had developed an allergy. A few moments later she continued her way to the simulation chamber when no further sneeze ensued.

xxxx

" That girl sure changed didn't she?"

Maya nodded her head in agreement. Rei had looked so distant and quiet back in the days, but no one tried to approach her. She didn't try to talk to anyone either. It was understandable considered her only focus was the eva, but Maya couldn't help but feel sorry for young girl. However, with the arrival of Third Child, Rei had more to deal with than just synchro tests and schoolwork in her life. Having a colleague meant teamwork was required, and the key to that was the interaction, an unfamiliar territory that the blue-hair girl would have to explore. Both Children had bad upbringings, so no one was surprised if either struggled to deal with each other, but apparently Shinji had no real trouble with Rei, and vise versa. Rei's aura of fear didn't seem to affect him; either that or it simply disappeared when they were together. She couldn't tell for sure, but Shinji had seemed comfortable around her unlike most people.

_Or maybe it's Rei who's comfortable around him_. She smiled inwardly. _I've been reading too many romance novels_. She shook her head and laughed at the thought. The woman side of her was playing match making again without realizing it. That had started the whole mess.

After Rei recovered from the 5th, she was briefed on the status of the Third Child and how she was now Nerv Japan's sole pilot. The girl had given her customary response, which surprised no one. However, in the following week Maya noticed small differences in the young albino's actions, little things here and there, all minor details, nothing concrete. For example, she had found Rei waiting outside EVA-01's cage, until the girl realized that the Third Child wasn't going to exit the eva anytime soon.

However, something happened at the end of that week.

** Flashback **

Because Dr. Akagi was busy deciphering the data about the double AT field, Maya was entrusted with Rei's weekly checkup. Much to her surprise the girl who was always on time was late by ten minutes. She shrugged it aside as no one's perfect. But three things happened during the exam that caused Maya to change her opinion.

Firstly, when she tried to make small talk with her, a small fluctuation appeared on Rei's ECG and EEG, an indication that something was bothering her.

Secondly, the topic had been about the Shinji's incident, one of the few subject that both could talk about. The differences were that 'Rei' was the one who initiated the conversation.

Lastly, It had bothered her enough that Rei had 'urged' her for a solution to her problem, declared that it was detrimental to her duty as a pilot. The girl was clearly bothered by the absence of Shinji and was at a loss with how to cope with losing someone close to her, having no prior experience.

The situation had almost drawn tears from the short brown-haired woman's eyes. _Oh my! This is almost like one of those tragic romances I read about! Wait, then she… she may try to suicide!_ The young technician was horrified by the thought.

"Rei, I don't know a real solution to your problem. I guess time might help… but I if you need another girl to listen to your problem, don't hesitate to ask me. I promise I'll be there to listen!"

The First Child nodded, yet her face displayed uncertainty. A thought suddenly struck Maya. _That girl doesn't even know her own feelings!_

Maya pondered some more and came to a conclusion.

"I have a guest room in my apartment that you can use, so if you're worry about space it won't be a problem. Ahh, I guess that's a bit unclear. What I'm trying to say is… Rei would you like to live with me?" She continued after hearing no reply, " Well, it's settle then. I'll take care of all the require paperwork. The test is finished for today so why don't you go home and get ready? I'll drop by later to pick you up!"

_Someone need to keep an eye on the girl so she doesn't take her own life!_

** End flashback **

And thus began Rei's life as a roommate with another person. There had been some difficulties involved with the necessary procedure, but they were quickly eliminated when Maya asked at her sempai for help with watering-puppy-eyes-look of hers.

The remaining day had been used for a shopping spree after Maya arrived at Rei's apartment and saw only a suitcase fill with school uniforms and a single box that contained all Rei's possession. The one-day-only unlimited credit card that Ritsuko gave her had nothing to do with it of course.

It's not until that night when Maya was on her bed did she realize something important._ Wait, I've never had any experience dealing with this kind of things!_

xxxx

Rei pressed a few keys on the computer. After customized all the option she entered the simulation chamber.

" Difficulty set at extreme, do you wish to proceed?" The computer asked as the First Child entered.

" Affirmative… wait" She frowned. " Delay the simulation for 30 second."

Her nose started to itch again.

xxxx

" Wow, straight A's. I'd say her combat potential rivals Asuka over at Germany." Misato exclaimed as she went through the rest of the combat data. " Geez, every shot made within fifty meters are all bulls-eye! How much time did she spent in that VR room again?"

" Five hours per day and doubled the amount on weekend." Maya whispered. While she decided to keep her own promise to Rei, Maya had also insisted the First Child to find something else to do to keep herself occupied, something to distract the girl, as she couldn't watch her all the time. She had expected Rei to choose writing, knitting, cooking, or sports. Stuff normal girls usually do. But never in her life did she expect the girl to take up espionage training as a hobby!

_I saw Captain Katsuragi took Shinji in without much problem, and I assumed Rei would be the same._ She shook her head. _The captain must be a lot more responsible than sempai said..._ She didn't know raising someone would be so tough. The young albino honestly didn't have a lot of common sense, so she had to teach her basic concepts like making sure the curtains are closed when changing, dealing with personal hygiene, laundry, cleaning, etc. The entire ordeal had her wrote a mental note in big bold letter with red highlight to avoid doing anything without knowing what she's getting into in the future. Needless to say, Maya was frustrated to see her attempt to raise Rei into a normal 16 years old girl failed miserably. The commander was pleased at the result however. She even got a raise.

" I guess that warped everything up for the day." Ritsuko declared. Unlike the old days where she had to stay overtime for the maintenance of the magi system, a couple upgrades over the years had made that task a weekly event instead of daily. No angel attack had also reduced her workload. " Misato, have fun with the paperwork."

" Meanie…" Misato stared at the mountain of documents that Ritsuko had magically produced from nowhere.

" Hey, you have had a cushy job for a while. Time for you to produce again."

Misato looked down. " Yeah, yeah, so there wasn't an angel attack for two years, but it wasn't my fault they aren't coming!" She signed, grudgingly resigned herself to the unjust providence and prepared to begin her journey to paperwork hell.

Then the entire base went dark.

xxxx

Over at the restricted area Cage-01, two gigantic yellow orbs shined in the darkness as if expecting something. Moment later, huge waves of electric currents sapped through the walls of the cage accompanied with thunderous roars and filled the room with light. The wild serpent-shape electric bolts then struck at the sole occupant in the room, the gigantic form known as Unit-01. When the bolts struck, the glowing eyes of the artificial demon intensified, as if the demon was ready to wake up and razed the world. The air around the sleeping behemoth distorted visibly as the bolts continuously snaked into Unit-01. When the last bit of light disappeared inside Unit-01, a shockwave that caused the entire base to shake was released.

A few seconds later, the head of the purple goliath slumped forward. The mysterious electroconvulsive therapy seemed to trigger something within the giant. The hatch that had been left unopened for more than two years let out a hiss and slowly slid open. The entry plug that had been inside the eva all this time then unscrewed itself and pumped the LCL out the holes on the side of the white cylinder.

The power returned to the Geofront once more.

xxxx

" What was THAT?" The female Nerv captain exclaimed.

After checking the magi to make sure no major data was lost, Ritsuko replied with a worried tone in her voice. " Something's wrong. It's impossible for us to loose all power like that."

" I'm aware of that." Misato frowned. "I don't like the look of this. Ritsuko, check the magi to see if we're under attack."

Ritsuko's hands moved at an incredible rate on the keyboard as the scientist in her emerged. _Could it really be an invasion? Or has the Angel finally decided to show up again?_ After making sure the base is still functional, she doubled her speed to assess all the security data from the magi to find out if the automatic defense system would need to be activated. She relaxed a little after verified that Nerv wasn't under any attack. Nearby Maya also confirmed no trance of blue pattern.

Visibly relaxed, Misato exited her operation director mode. " That's a relieve, but we better check what had caused that power shortage."

A newly changed Touji burst into the room. " Someone care to tell me what's going on? I was in the middle of getting out of the plug suit when the light went out. " Touji looked pale after a quick glance at all the serious expressions on everyone's faces. " Don't tell me an angel is attacking? I'm not ready for that yet!"

" No it wasn't an angel attack, we're currently looking..." Misato left her sentence unfinished when Ritsuko announced the answer with a shaking tone.

" The cage… the presence of AT fields within Unit-01's cage had disappeared… Entry plug… ejected."

xxxx

" So we finally got the Third Child back."

On Gendo's monitor was the live feed of Dr. Akagi in the ER. " Yes, he's currently under observation at the medical facility. He's still asleep right now, but he brainwave started to show strong activities. If the doctors are correct, he'll wake up within 5 hours. I've already prohibited all visitors including the Fourth Child and the captain until we're sure of everything."

Gendo nodded his head and indicated the doctor to continue.

"The physical resemblance may be different, but his DNA is the same as Shinji. His body has to mature into sixteen years old after all, and consider the chance of someone swapping the pilot with a fake is impossible without us noticing, this person is definitely the Third Child." She continued after checking more medical reports. " His body has been tenderized after not moving for more than two years, it's a good thing LCL is does not act like water or we'll have a serious case of dropsy on our hand, he'll also have a tough time talking because he hadn't spoken or eaten anything all this time either. An acupoint injection therapy has already been applied and we're also preparing to give him a shot contains numerous healing agents and nanomachines to facilitate the recovery process. In the mean time, even though I'd like to ask him some questions, it's best for us to wait until he recovers."

" And how long will that take?"

" Approximate two weeks, but he should regain his ability to speak within the first week."

" Is that all?" When Ritsuko confirmed his question, Gendo shut off the monitor without saying any parting words. Hey, the years might have changed him a little but he still had a reputation to keep.

" What are we suppose to do now? The committee has been in a disarray ever since they realized the events weren't following the scrolls." The sub-commander who acted like Gendo's shoulder angel asked. " Everything up till the so-called fifth angel may have been a giant coincidence; the things we fought may not be the angels; the giant of light at South Pole may not be Adam. Are they still going to try to initiate the HCP like before? The scrolls may be a hoax from some alien beings for all we know."

" What Seele would do is their business, we follow our own schedule."

" And what's this 'schedule' that you failed to tell me?"

Gendo said nothing but smirked.

xxxx

End Chapter 2

TBC

A/N: First, if you think renovating Tokyo 3 in two years is impossible. You have to consider that they finished building both Tokyo 2 & 3 within 14 years after a major catastrophe that killed about half the world's population. Two metropolises, and one had the ability to sink underground, pretty impressive if you ask me. Not to mention the original Tokyo that got N2 bombed was also rebuilt into the JA research facility. I've got my own explanation for the fast construction rate in this eva universe, you'll know sometime in the future.

So where's the crossover you asked? You'll have a little clue on that in the next chapter. I'll tell you something though. This fic will have more than one crossover. :P

Since I consider the three pilots to be the holy trinity of eva fic, don't worry about Asuka, she'll appear eventually. I already planned the story all the way to how it'll end. The core of the story won't change from what I envision, but I may add or remove some ideas.

PS. Sorry for the crotch joke.

And I still hate the formatting of this site.

xxxx

Omake: What happened to Rei?

xxxx

Rei flattened herself against the wall, using all her senses to look for signs of her enemies. She had been careless and stayed in the open for too long and a sniper spotted her position on the roof. She had barely dodged the shot intended for her head and got back inside the building, but the guards had been alerted and were now searching for her.

All she had with her was a combat knife; the sniper rifle was abandoned back on the roof. The situation didn't look good.

A hum from the elevator signaled that someone's using the elevator, no doubt coming to her present level, the 4th floor. Not a good sign, it meant at least two backup squads were coming up from the stairs as well if her experiences were correct. She frowned at her impediment, but it went away so fast that no one would be able to tell the difference from her usual stony expression.

Rei moved herself beside the elevator, pressed the down button, and waited for the elevator to stop. She kept an eye at the doorway to the fire exit while she waited. _This would be my only chance to get out of this alive_. Rei thought. _If the backups arrived sooner than my calculation I would be doomed_. She drew the knife out of its sheath and got into a crouching position as the elevator came to a stop.

When the tip of a M4 poked out from the semi-opened door she made her move. Still in a crouching position she quickly turned. The first guard who had his gun pointed at chest level blinked as his eyes caught a flash of blue below him, but before he could act something sharp embedded itself to his crotch. Continued before her first victim could scream, Rei used her other hand and reached around the guard's waist and pulled the safety pin from a grenade. Still holding the knife in her right hand, she performed a back flip, knocking the poor guy back against his comrades when her shoe connected to his lower jaw; the knife came free at the same time.

Rei then ran toward the fire exit as the elevator closed behind her. The backup would arrive about now. She was five meters away from the door when it swung opened. Without any hesitation, she threw the knife at the person who opened the door. The first guy's instinct saved him when he shifted his body to the side. He stared with disbelieve as the deadly blade lounged into the face of his partner. When he turned to face his adversary, all he saw was black as a powerful flying roundhouse knocked him into unconsciousness. A loud rumble went off at the lower level, indicated the grenade exploded. Hopefully it'll distract the second team.

Rei was about to pick up the rifle and blasted her way down the floor when everything went dark.

A confused First Child blinked.

" Computer, status." She asked after she came to her sense.

No response.

She sat down. It would pointless to try to find the exit without any light, especially after her rather intense exercise, as she was still disoriented from the simulation. So she waited, something she had gotten used to.

But it also brought unwanted thoughts, thoughts that would interfere with her piloting, thoughts of Third Child…

_Damn hormones_. Rei thought unhappily. She needed to kill something soon.

xxxx

End omake

xxxx


	3. New face, new place

**Disclaimer**: Anything that has a copyright protection belongs to their respective owners.

_**Notes:** Have you ever seen or had some great ideas, but the execution was so terrible that it failed miserably? I know my execution is bad, but this chapter was so shitty that I decide to rewrite it for the sake of the next one._

P.S: I've also removed the omake. Not going to rewrite that as well.

_Eins Zwei Drei_

_By North Freezing_

Chapter 3:

XXXX

Misato had just finished calling Touji to meet her at the base after Ritsuko contacted her and said that Shinji was finally allowed visitor. Ritsuko had said over the phone that she might be a little surprised, but the captain was quite assured that her experience readied her for anything, her high school reunion party being an example.

Sayoko, one of her friend who claimed to despite boys, eloped with said gender and became a mother with three kids. Yoshito, the rich playboy of the class, had forfeited his family wealth and become a clergy of some church. Oda, the otaku/geek/the one girls tended to stay away from, had become a popular writer for writing the best seller self-help books titled, " How to get a girlfriend for dummies". And finally Momoko, the meek girl that always sat in the corner of the classroom, had become a super model slash part-time SM queen. It was always the quiet ones.

Wait… Shinji was a quiet one.

XXXX

" So, they allowed us to see him now?" Touji asked Misato for confirmation as they strolled toward the hospital wing. It had been a whole month since Nerv retrieved Shinji. He had rushed to the base when Misato told him about the termination of the Third Child's isolation, and they were on their way to make their first visit.

" Yeah." A simple reply came from the captain, as she battled to hold down her own excitement and anxiety.

" And what about Kensuke? And Ayanami? Why do we need to keep it a secret? Kensuke I can understand as he was not part of Nerv, but Ayanami was at the base when the blackout happened."

" Well, Shinji's return is supposed to be confidential. Even though I don't see the point of it." Misato answered. " And commander had insisted that Rei is to remain unaware of the situation. It's about Shinji's own safety… at least that's his excuse."

Touji had decided to forgo the matter. Having a disputing about the commander's order was pointless as usual. But hey, couldn't blame him for trying. " What's she gonna do? Train him to death or something?"

It was suppose sound sarcastic until he realized something.

When he was selected as a pilot, he had tried talking to Rei as he was nervous about the whole thing and Shinji wasn't around. Maybe he had caught her at a bad time cause the azure hair girl had then dragged him along for one of her training session. It might have been an act of good will by giving him a crash course, but he wasn't Kensuke, who'd probably cry with joy if a stinger missile flied his way.

Touji shuddered, remembering the pain. _Can't believe that was beginner difficulty. I guess it's best if no one tells Ayanami, I don't think Shinji would like to be back in the hospital anytime soon._

" Don't worry, the ban will probably be removed by the time Shinji's ready for school. There's no way of keeping it secret at that point. Anyway, we're here to see Shinji, so let's move!" Misato spoke cheerfully; unaware of what just went inside the Fourth Child's head.

Touji silently prayed for Shinji's well being.

XXXX

" That's him!" Misato blurted out.

The doctor gave her a nod. They were currently in the observation chamber as the bolt from the blue on the other side of the one-way glass shorted Misato's brain. Touji's apparently shut down.

'Him' of course, being the Shinji Ikari, the sleeping beauty for two years plus.

Back when they first met, Misato was honest when she said he was kind of cute. If he had developed a fashion sense and stopped being an introvert, he probably could nab himself a girlfriend. Not saying there weren't any girls interested in him. Being a pilot did wonders to one's popularity.

Looking at the sixteen year old Shinji Ikari however, she realized that she had underestimated the power of puberty. The lean frame and babyish face was still there, but the young boy who used to stand up to her shoulder was now almost a head taller than her. His skin looked pale, but unlike Ayanami's porcelain complexion, he looked like he hadn't seen the sun for a long time. A new addition was the long raven mane of hair that ran down the side of his face and his back.

Shinji was currently leaning against the opposing wall to them with his eyes closed and arms folded below his chest. A tranquil expression settled on his face. Once in a while he would brush back a stray lock of hair that was tickling his cheek. The combination of the soft features on Shinji's face, the lithe physique, and the feminine gentleness he displayed had Misato fighting hard within her mind to suppress the naughty images that closely resembled her collection of shojo manga.

" There's something different about him."

" You can say that again…" Misato replied, still enthralled. Sure, Shinji was a little on the androgynous side, but she sure as hell didn't expect him to turn out like this!

" I'm not talking about his look." Ritsuko said tiredly. "You do realize something was odd when I didn't allow him any visitor for the past three weeks, right?"

That comment broke the spell and brought the Fourth Child back from the twilight zone as well.

Seeing that she had the their attention, the doctor continued. " You know what? I think I'll pass on the orders before I get to the explanations. Shinji will be leaving with you after we're done here. You've been given the rest of the day off, so show him around. Remember to keep a low profile. We don't need the media to cause a ruckus. The Nerv uniform he's wearing is okay for now, but he'll need new wardrobes and school uniforms. He'll be attending the same high school as you Suzuhara. And don't worry about your own paycheck Misato, he has already been given enough credits to do the shopping."

Misato nodded along as her friend went on, the operation director in her was already scheduling how she'd accomplish her mission in the afternoon. First, she'd show Shinji around the base, they had gotten a couple new entrances to fit with the new city layout. Then they'd head over to Shinkichijouji to do his shopping. Probably a haircut too, the long hair made him look too much like a girl, and she felt wrong imaging her charge as the main character of her old manga collection. Afterward she'll show him his new school and… Wait a moment, school uniforms?

Touji appeared to be thinking along the same line as he spoke before she could. " School uniforms? He's been missing school for more than two years. How is he supposed to catch up?"

Ritsuko gave a sigh, "Remember I say I'll explain later? Let me finish before we get to that shall we?" Seeing not objection. She quickly finished off. " And from now on, Shinji won't be staying with you Misato. A new address has already been secured for him. Drop him off back to base by eight, Section 2 will handle it from there. I'm also afraid to tell you that you won't have time to visit him for a while, the engineering department had some stuff that requires you to look over after you finished showing Shinji around."

" …"

" Misato?" The scientist started to get worried. She knew that last bit of news wouldn't be received too well, but the emotionless expression her friend was showing was getting unnerving. Touji already found himself some cover.

The scientist and the young man observed cautiously as the purple haired woman stood up slowly from where she was sitting and walked to the nearest cupboard, not wishing to set anything off. Then much to Ritsuko's chagrin, the walking dynamite (or bombshell in another's eyes) took out a bottle of pure alcohol and downed it in one giant gulp.

Touji watched at the whole thing played out in front of him as several nurses rushed in and took the captain away for treatment after the doctor ended the emergency call. Once the whole thing quieted down, he looked toward Ritsuko, who slumped on to a chair afterward and gave her temple the needed massage.

" Why was Misato so upset? She was fine these couple years without Shinji living with her."

" Simple, she still had Penpen with her. But would you eat from a roadside raman stand when you know a French chief is going to your house later?"

Touji paused, letting the words sunk in." Okay, I think I get it, but why does Penpen has anything to do with it?"

" Of course he does, don't you know that penguin has been doing all the chores for her? He's fairly intelligent and has survival instinct too you know."

Touji decided to leave the doctor be. It seemed stress finally got to her. He'll get his explanations from Shinji when they reacquainted with each other in the afternoon.

XXXX

Shinji blinked as a Section 2 agent handed him an envelope.

" This is the key to your new residence." The driver answered plainly as the car came to a stop. " We're only told to drop you off."

Shinji nodded, and started gathering all the stuff that Misato had purchased for him while another agent helped him with the door. Why he would need all these clothes were beyond him, but Misato had insisted so it would be impolite to refuse.

_I guess I'll have to do some shopping for furniture tomorrow… an extra closet for one._ Shinji sighed.

He wasn't surprised when he was told that he wouldn't be living with Misato, his stay with her had been a fluke anyway. At least he still had some cash with him after Misato's shopping fiesta. The woman had gone insane upon learning that he was given five million yen for shopping essential supplies. It was a good thing he didn't tell her about the credit card… Which raised a question. When had Nerv become so generous to its pilot? And from the story Misato and Touji told him during the afternoon, Nerv's suppose to be on a tight budget. Maybe they pulled an insurance scam claiming he was dead?

Dropping the ludicrous thought, Shinji turned apathetically around to face his new living quarters as the Section 2 agents drove away, expecting an abandon apartment, or worst if Rei's old home was any indication. He was happy to learn that she now lived with Ibuki-san. But he didn't understand why Touji told him stay away from her.

When his new home came into view, Shinji promptly dropped the bags he was holding with his mouth agape.

A pyramid-shape building about thirty-stories tall stood ahead of him. The exterior lights illuminate the structure in such a way that only made it grander. In front of the main entrance laid a fountain the size of a small lake, separated into halves by a path that led to the entrance. As if sensing his presence, jets of water and colored lights shot from the once mirror-like pool creating intricate water show as soft classic music started to play.

Needless to say, someone just got floored.

After taking a few deep breathes so his brain could get some needed oxygen, Shinji tried to interpret the matter rationally. The building before him was obviously a hotel. The Section 2 apparently made a mistake. All he needed to do was made a call to Nerv and inform them about it and the agents would turn around and deliver him to the right place. No big deal, Piece of cake.

Reaching for his new cell phone (purchased on the insistence of Misato), Shinji was about to punch in the numbers when his phone rang.

" Hello?" Shinji answered. The Section 2 must have realized their blunder.

" Mr. Ikari?" An unfamiliar voice spoke on the other end, and definitely not from the Section 2 considered the speaker was female. All the agents were men.

" Uh, yes, who's speaking?"

" I'm sorry for not preparing a proper welcome, Mr. Ikari. I've just being notified of your arrival by your driver. If you would just wait for a few moment, I'll be right there with you."

_Wha-?_ The Third Child was obviously puzzled until he saw a young woman in business suit approached from within the pyramid. She gave a formal bow once she stood in front of him.

"Welcome to Gamaliel Condominium Mr. Ikari. Please, follow me and I'll get you checked in. You must be tired."

Needless to say, someone just got floored. Again.

XXXX

Gamaliel Condominium was not your usual condo. Although named as such, it was designed closer a hotel. About two years ago, an anonymous party had poured a large sum of money for its construction, supposedly designed to attract people with higher income to Tokyo-3. However, the rent was too high even for upper class citizens and as a result, the place had few residents despite the booming immigrants. Too bad it was not intended to be a hotel, the tourists might like the quiet environment the place offered as it was located in the heart of a small grove filled with cherry trees.

Shinji was in awe the moment he stepped into the lobby. Marble floors, chandeliers, Persian carpets and paintings filled the area. As he marveled at his surroundings, he silently accepted the now-enabled keycard from the woman (who had identified herself as the manager of the place) after she registered him into the computer database.

" I wish you a pleasant stay, Mr. Ikari. The card in your hand would also serve as key to your personal safe and mailbox. Just show the card to any active staff members at the front desk and we'll be happy to bring it to you."

Shinji broke his gaze at a piece of sixteenth century painting to look at the manager. " I have a personal safe?"

"Of course, sir. That's part of the package." The woman answered. "In order to maintain a quiet environment for our guests, Gamaliel had to remain near the edge of the city at the expense of longer traveling time. Therefore we've integrated other services as part of the attractions."

The young man blinked. " What other services are there?"

" Personal maids, secretaries, tailors and chefs upon request, for a fee of course. I've already entered the maid request for you when I check you in, She'll be here tomorrow. If you have other needs, feel free to tell any staff in the future. "

" M-Maid? Uh, I'm sorry, but I don't think I need a maid, nor afford one."

" You're our VIP, sir. Unlike the regular guests you have access to all our services free of charge." The woman looked at Shinji oddly. " How about I show you your room first?"

XXXX

As the elevator started to move, the women sneaked a look at the newest tenant beside her. Something about the new guest had stroked her curiosity.

The usual patrons that lived here were rich senior men and women who were CEO of their business. The young man definitely didn't fit the first description. The mannerism he displayed didn't match with the usual spoiled rich offspring of some big company either. She'd like to know how he managed to obtain the VIP status, but professionalism prevented her from prying.

_Spoiled rich offspring…_

Her brow knitted into a frown at the unwanted recollection. Ever since the world's population dropped in half from the second impact and the war that followed suit, the UN had considered legalizing polygamy. Thankfully the nonsense did not succeed, but during the time they evaluated the law, lots of men already considered it to be in effect. Males from all age group started hitting on every female in sight. She had heard the 'trying to repopulate the world' pick-up line far too many times for her liking.

It didn't help that her current job required her to act more submissive. A good thing she knew martial art, as sometimes things just got out of hand. She had thought about quitting, but it was a very cushiony job for someone still in university. And as the manager she was given a room that rivaled the presidential suite to the best hotels in Japan.

Luxury however, wasn't the reason she stayed. If she wished, she could've moved back to her brother and lived with the others when her tour around the world ended. The problem was seeing her brother with his fiancée, now wife.

Her expression darkened a bit further at the thought of her brother, or rather, his wife. While finding no faults with her brother, his choice in woman still left something to be desired. She didn't really hate her sister-in-law. She was even involved in helping them got together. But that was only because she wanted him to be happy.

_That idiot... what did he see in her._

" Umm, excuse me Miss. Is it okay that no one's at the front desk?"

Shinji, having nothing to see other than the view outside as the elevator elevates, had quickly noticed the discontented look on his companion. Believing that he was the cause, Shinji decided to break the silence with the first thing that came to him.

" There's nothing to worry Mr. Ikari." The manager answered, a slightly hue of red colored her cheek. She broke away from her reminiscence, feeling ashamed that she had let her thought wondered and neglected her duty." There's usually only one staff per shift, but we have one of the best security systems in the world. A… friend helped with the development."

" Please, there's no need to be so formal." Shinji protested. The continuous use of honorific had begun to feel uncomfortable. He might look sixteen, but he sure didn't feel sixteen. And even though he was taller, having a senior treating him like he was her boss was making him uncomfortable.

The woman stared at him coolly; making the young man wondered if he had offended her somehow. Seconds felt like minutes, till she raised her right hand slowly.

" Kanako Urashima. Please to meet you Ikari-kun."

XXXX

Finding his new residence had been easy. Especially when it was located on the very top of the pyramid, AND the only room on that floor. The place was huge enough to be separated into two floors. There were a total of six bedrooms, each with king size beds and bathrooms. The closet problem he was worrying about had been unnecessary as the place was fully furnished. The living room came with a 100'' high definition flat screen TV and a home theatre system. Right beside it was a mini-bar and cellar that held various kinds of drinks. Around the corner was a kitchen that a chef would die for.

Shinji wrote a mental note to get a lock for the cellar as he lied on his new bed. Ever since Kanako led him into the pyramid he had been wondered who would've set him up with such setup, but his mind came up blank. Decided to pile it away as one of Nerv's unsolvable mysteries he stared at another unfamiliar ceiling instead. The day's event played through his head.

The meeting with Misato and Touji was certainly memorable. Misato acted and looked just the same as he remembered. One thing changed however. Unlike before where his head would end up against her chest, he found himself needing to look downward during her welcome back hug. It was ironic that instead of being the one crying, it was now his job to do the soothing. It made him awfully aware of his new height and body, and that he was no longer a child.

As for Touji, he didn't recognize him at first and had though Misato got herself a boyfriend during his absence. When he greeted the yet-to-introduce-himself Touji as such he was suddenly assaulted by the jock with a this-is-the-best-day-of-my-life! smile on his face and a repeating, " Do we really look like a couple?" It was not until Misato reminded Touji the fact that he had a girlfriend and she might probably be jealous till he let go. Needless to say, a proper introduction wasn't needed after that little havoc.

The rest of the day had gone according to Misato's scenario, with more than seventy percent of the afternoon had been spent on shopping. The highlight being the time he received a haircut. Misato had insisted on him entering the salon alone, wishing to be surprised when he came out. And whatever Misato said, Touji agreed. He didn't have any problem about cutting it; shorter hair was much easier to keep after all. At least Misato and Touji appeared to be satisfied with his new haircut when he exited.

On a whim Shinji ran a hand over his new tresses, he was glad that the barber had some idea, as he knew nothing about fashion himself. Most of the long locks were now gone except for the bangs, which the barber (or hairdresser as she'd liked to be called) brushed aside and held together with a small amount of gel so they wouldn't obstruct his vision.

Shinji closed his eyes; finished with recollection. Tomorrow he'd be attending high school. The manager had said that it'd take a bit of walk to get to the train station before she left. He decided to rest now and leave early knowing his new school was located on the other end of the city.

Thinking about going back to school made him excited and scared at the same time. Touji had told him a bit about his new school, and some new friends that he'd introduce to him tomorrow. But a side of him was worrying about if he could fit in, after all he still felt like a middle school student. He wondered how Kensuke would receive him. Touji had been a shock to see already, but he was glad that other than appearance the jock still remained the same guy he knew back then. It was shocking to find that he had been selected as the Fourth Child though, but having another teammate was always good in his opinion. He was also glad that his sister had healed.

And… how was Rei? Misato had said she was fine after the angel, but nothing else. Touji had told him to avoid her if he could.

The young man slowly drifted into sleep as questions continued to swirl in his head. Little did anybody realize that a countdown for something big had already started upon his return.

XXXX

Gendo Ikari, the supreme commander of Nerv, was up in his office with his second in command. Currently engaging in a game of shogi.

" I can't believe you didn't tell him." Kouzo Fuyutsuki said as he moved a piece down the board. " What would the old man do if he find out? And the scenario?"

" It has no impact on the scenario." The commander paused to think of a counter, both the question and the game. " The existence of Seele should be kept secret. The old man should know better. I suspect he wasn't at the right state of mind when he made that request. The boy can't possibly handle the truth."

" He's just wanted his grandson to know about his grandfather."

" He gave that right away by becoming a member of Seele way back."

" I say you're just bitter that he never approved of your marriage to his daughter." While it was a low blow, he believed he had successfully derailed his opponent's train of thought. Kouzo stared at the younger man, looking for any sign as his hand ready to place the next piece for an easy kill.

Gendo didn't even move an eyebrow.

Sighting, the white haired man played his move and continued the conversation. " So what are you going to do with the inheritance he wants Shinji to have?"

" Holding and managing it for him. We still needed him here and there's no telling what the boy would do with this amount of money. He'll get a small increase in his salary. And I believe that I've been more than generous giving him an advance and the villa."

"You gave him a room when he's supposed to own the place. Well, I guess he only needs one room to sleep… But do you have to rent it out?" The vice commander rubbed the bridge of his nose when Gendo gave him a 'Do you even need to ask' look. Admitting defeat on that subject he decided to switch the topic. " Speaking of your son, do you think he's clean?"

" The doctors' report indicates nothing wrong." Gendo stated as he move a pawn of his own.

"Is that so? Even though we still got nothing on how he generated two AT fields in Unit-01, stayed alive for more than two years with nothing but LCL, recovered faster than anticipated with minimal rehab, and showed no trauma or major behavior change even after such an experience?" The older man said sarcastically. "Did I leave anything else out?"

"You missed one. Shinji passed the entrance exam for Tokyo 2 University. It's unofficial however, and he isn't aware of it. But it was enough to convince the high school to grant him entrance as normal student." Gendo responded coolly. " He apparently asked the doctors for studying materials as a way to pass time during the isolation period. It seemed he felt that he had a lot of catching up to do after missing school for so long."

The commander smirked. The game was now his. His sensei no longer focused on winning. " Afterward, Akagi gave him a mock exam for university instead of high school by mistake, and that's how we found out."

" And you find the whole thing normal?" The bewildered sub commander demanded.

Gendo answered as he made the last move on the board. _Checkmate_. "I see no reason to worry when none of it cause any harm to the Third Child. If you wish to know more about the matter, Akagi has the data and theories, but I'll save you the trouble and tell you that it explained nothing. Until there are evidences that these 'conditions' could ruin the plan, I'm not going to worry about this matter."

The gray-hair man sighed. Both at Gendo's win over the match and his attitude. A quick look on his wrist indicated that it was too late for another game. Time to wrap up. "I heard the UN's sending you to do some work for them, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, and you'll be leaving tomorrow?"

The commander nodded. " South Ataria Island. They want me to supervise the final transport and 'disposal' of Ramiel's remains."

" That super diamond-shape fortress that you sold them? It sure takes its sweet time getting there."

" Unfortunately." Gendo murmured under his breathe as he stood up and headed to the door.

He sold Ramiel out of necessity back then. Nerv was running on a very tight budget and doesn't have the fund to dispose the angel remains by itself. After a hard bargain with the UN, he had convinced them to fund Nerv, thought he was definitely not happy with the outcome.

UN for all its worth, could not stand some organization stood above it, and Nerv was it. Ramiel appeared to be what they needed. Once the reverse engineering of the angel's protective barrier succeed, Nerv's trump card would be moot. Funding Nerv in the mean time would just be a small sacrifice to pay until they got their hands on the angel.

For the continual existence of Nerv, he, as the commander had made sure to sabotage all competition projects that could be a threat, the JA for example. He had hoped to sink the Ramiel into the bottom of the ocean after he got the money, but the UN had been watching it like a hawk. Being a supervisor was just their way of keeping him under their sight.

His only consolation was that it'd probably take them at least ten years to complete the reverse engineering process. And by that time his scenario would already be finished. Which reminded him…

" Fuyutsuki, contact Nerv Germany and tell them to send over Unit-02 and its pilot."

Kouzo blinked. " Europe won't hand Unit-02 over unless there's an angel remember? It's their last eva. America only handed Unit-03 to us because they still has Unit-04 with them."

" Tell them we've recovered the Third Child, but he could possibly be contaminated by the angel. If he ever turns into a threat, we will need an experience pilot to partner with Rei in order to neutralize the double AT fields that he could generate. The Fourth Child was too inexperienced. If they need more convincing proofs, give them the 'abnormalities report'."

" Just a moment ago you told me those 'abnormalities' doesn't trouble you."

" I'm not bothered by them. But what do they know?"

_Good point._ Fuyutsuki thought.

XXXX

Tokyo 2, the capital of Japan, a near copy of the original Tokyo, and the home of the government and the emperor. It brings the most modern wonders of technology, commerce and architecture side by side. As one of the world's largest city, Tokyo 2 Metropolis has over twelve million-

An oriental looking girl with semi-long hair blinked as the travel brochure she was reading disappeared off her hands. When she moved her head up to see who had snatched her book, she came face to face with a long blonde hair girl with blue eyes, whose face was inches away from her own. The girl seemed to be of similar age, and she didn't look happy.

Unperturbed, the first girl greeted the second girl with a smile. " Oh my, I didn't know you're interest in Japan, Glycine."

Glycine restrained the urge to scream. Charles de Gaulle International Airport was not the place to make a scene, and She got the image of Bleumer family to uphold. " Do you really think you could run away without me noticing?"

" I…am sorry." The Japanese girl looked away, knowing she was just delaying the inevitable. "I've never been to Japan, living in France since I could remembered. It is about time I paid my home country a visit. I might also get a chance to see what a true Yamato-"

" Stop it Hanabi!" The blonde hair girl said fervidly, cutting the other off. Normally she'd condemned such deed, but this was not the time. " I'm worry about you! Do you serious wish to go along with this engagement that your father set up? You've been avoiding me this past week and then snuck off to the airport by yourself!"

" I'm sorry Glycine, but this is my duty. I know father said I can reject the engagement, but I also know he wished me to accept. It seems the engagement would be beneficial to the family." She paused for a moment before continued. "You should understand my position."

The flare died in Glycine like a waterfall fell on a match.

Silence passed between the two girls as one of them discerned what she had just heard while the other one waited. After what seemed like eternity, the blonde-hair girl took a seat beside her friend and spoke softly." You don't even know this guy, yet you are ready to go to Japan and marry him?"

" It's not like that." Hanabi finally turned to face her friend once more. " They won't force us to wed until both of us are eighteen, and I can denounce the engagement. They just wish me to go to Japan for a year to get to know my fiancée better before I made the decision."

" But you've already decided haven't you." Glycine stated grimly.

" I won't marry him if he's a bad person."

" Maybe, but I'm going with you."

Hanabi's eyes widened. " Glycine, you can't! There's no point for you to come with me. And you've got things to take care of as well. You are the heir of-" Her protest was cut off when the other girl flashed a plane ticket before her eyes.

" To tell the truth, I already know I can't convince you to stay. You can be very stubborn when you want, you know?" This time the smile was on the French girl's face. The shocking expression on her best friend was something one didn't see everyday. " When you were busy avoiding me, I've made preparation as well. We'll just stay in Japan for a year, then come back after you reject the guy."

_And you call me stubborn?_ Hanabi thought, shocked. It quickly dissipated though, the need to dissuade her friend was more important "I thought you said… Japan is a land of perverts and tentacle monsters?"

The would-be duchess shrugged. " I've brought my weapons along. I'll cut them in half if I see them."

" What… what about your Japanese?"

" Are you kidding? Such feat is not a problem for a great noble like me."

" Where… will you be staying?"

" With you of course." Glycine looked at her Japanese friend. " Unless I'm not welcomed."

" Thank you." Hanabi whispered

" Don't even try- huh?" The blonde girl was caught by off guard by the unexpected hug from the shorter girl. She gently patted her friend's back when she realized that the other girl was crying.

Hanabi sobbed against Glycine's shoulder. For the past week she had being telling herself that everything was all right, bottling all her negative emotions away. The length that her best friend had gone to insure her well-being had cracked the lie that she had been telling herself, creating an outlet for those emotion to escape.

" Thank you." Hanabi whispered her gratitude after calming down.

Glycine handed her friend a handkerchief. " No problem. I think your would-be fiancée owed you a beating for making you cry though."

" That's not very nice." The short hair girl giggled as she wiped her tears.

The French girl shrugged. "Well, we better start heading to the gate or the plane would leave without us."

XXXX

End Chapter 3

TBC

A/N: Yes, one of the Seele members is an Ikari. Yes, he's Yui's dad. I'm not making that up. He's not part of the committee though, so you never see his face. I learned that from the Evangelion 2 game for PS2.

When I looked over the estimated character height I got off some website, I was surprised by how short all the kids are, especially Shinji consider his parents are pretty tall. So… growth spurts time. Which seems about right for their current age. For those interested here's the chart.

Gendo Ikari - 184 (6'1'')  
Kouzo Fuyutsuki - 183.5 (6'1'')  
Ryouji Kaji - 178.5 (5'10")  
Shigeru Aoba - 176 (5'9")  
Makoto Hyuga - 174.5 (5'8")  
Yui Ikari - 169 (5'6")  
Misato Katsuragi - 163 (5'4")  
Naoko Akagi - 163 (5'4")  
Ritsuko Akagi - 162 (5'4")  
Maya Ibuki - 160 (5'3")  
Keel Lorenz - 159 (5'3")  
Touji Suzuhara - 151 (5')/ 181 in this story  
Hikari Horaki - 150 (5')/ 160 in this story  
Kaworu Nagisa - 150 (5')/ 178 in this story  
Asuka Langley Sohryu - 149 (4'10'')/ 163 in this story  
Shinji Ikari - 148 (4'10")/ 176 in this story  
Kensuke Aida - 145.25 (4'8")/ 173 in this story  
Rei Ayanami - 143 (4'8")/ 155 in this story (So small…)  
Pen-Pen - 61.5 (2')/ no idea about penguin growth rate, so he'll remain the same.

As for Shinji's new look, I base him on Sakon from _Karakurizoushi Ayatsuri Sakon_. Most of you probably never heard of it because it's not available in the west. Quick description. Personality wise, Sakon is a lot like Shinji. As for appearance, he also has Black hair, blue eyes. Megumi Ogata was also Sakon's VA. I swear the first time I saw the show I was like, "What the hell! When did Shinji grow up? ". Sakon has a red hair partner name Ukon who was brash, loud, and confident, the exact opposite of him. When Sakon is with Ukon Sakon's personality changed.

Kanako is a character from _Love Hina_. This series seems to be fairly popular so I won't go into detail. By the way, I only read the manga so my information and perception of the LH characters may be different.

Glycine and Hanabi are from _Sakura Taisen 3 _game. Hanabi Kitaooji is the daughter of a Japanese baron family. She grew up in France with Glycine. Glycine is the daughter of Bleumer family, inheritor of a renowned bloodline of a Normandy duchy. They don't much of a role in the story yet. This is their introduction. I'm just lighting the fuse for the fireworks later.

Anyway, if you need a picture of the characters say so with the review.

So what had happened to Shinji? What type of chaos awaited the world in year 2018? What's Gendo's agenda? Well just wait.

The next chapter: 'The Classrep, The Military Otaku, and The Blue Hair Girl.'

And I still hate the formatting of this site. (Don't expect to see this comment go away anytime soon. I mean, why can't I put ? and ! Together…)


End file.
